• Posted on Tuesday, December 8, 2009
  • Bookmark and Share
  • email
  • |
  • print
  • |
  • rss

tool name

close
tool goes here

Day care owner arrested in moonshine case: 'I was set up'

Sign up for email newsletters now!

Sign up for email newsletters now!

Never miss a McClatchy story

More on this Story

A Charlotte community activist who was arrested on charges of selling moonshine out of her day care center said she made a "mistake" but was set up by one of her neighbors, who calls her a "snitch" for working with code enforcement in the neighborhood.

N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement agents arrested Gwendolyn Brown-Johnson, 57, and her husband, Artis Johnson, 64, last Friday at Parkview Community Center, a day-care operation and community foundation off Tuckaseegee Road.

Johnson's Web site says she is devoted to providing disadvantaged children with "supervision and protection from a hazardous social environment"

The foundation's Web site says Brown-Johnson incorporated the Parkview Community Foundation in 1997. The group provides after-school programs, distributes food and counsels local youth to avoid drugs and alcohol.

ALE agents say children were in the day-care center when they sent in an undercover agent to buy two gallons of moonshine last week.

"The children were our first concern," said ALE Director John Ledford in a statement.

Agents say they were tipped off by local complaints.

The foundation's Web site said Brown-Johnson, who is the president and CEO, also encourages landlords to evict tenants engaged in drug sales and other criminal activity.

The Parkview Foundation is listed as a nonprofit, but doesn't have to file full financial disclosures because it takes in less than $25,000 per year.

Read more at CharlotteObserver.com

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

We welcome comments. To post one, you must sign in using either your McClatchyDC login or your login for Facebook, Twitter or Disqus. Just click the appropriate box below.

Please keep your comment civil, short and to the point. Obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. If you find a comment abusive or inappropriate, please flag it for the moderator by placing your cursor on the comment, then clicking the "flag" link that appears. Thanks for your participation.

LEGAL AFFAIRS BLOG

Suits & Sentences

"Suits & Sentences" is written by Mike Doyle, who covers the Supreme Court for McClatchy's Washington Bureau. Send a story suggestion.